{Early Morning & Tennis Hall of Fame Museum}

 It was 5:30 in the morning and I was the only one awake, so I decided to adventure out and snap some pictures on the harbor. It was so peaceful and quiet....maybe too quiet only because I found I locked my self out of the hotel area and I had to walk the docks and seriously jump across and hop the fence and enter back in the front door. So it was a a bit of a morning adventure.

Once everyone was up and ready to go we headed straight to the 

INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME & MUSEM

 Jon really wanted to go to this and I wasn't going to talk him out of it so we went. It was a really neat museum. The kids got a scavenger hunt and won a prize at the end which they loved and so did I. I love those things even if all my kids weren't with me I think I will always asked for one cause I learn so much better having my tour organized and fun things they point out that I may have never found on my own.

I believe these are the only grass courts in the U.S. if there are more then these were the first ones.

 I think it would of been so fun to watch a match here.

 There were so many fun things to see and learn here..

Alix thinks she knows all about the Titanic after reading a chapter book about it so she was so excited to see how a few tennis players were on board the Titanic and escape the tragedy.

You can also watch the matches from above. We are actually standing in the museum looking out. It was really neat to see the original lead glass on the windows. They looked so patene and beautiful.

 Jon thought he was cool to be a Dell this day even though there is no relation--well at that is what we think...maybe we should do our genealogy--one of those branches might be in our line  :-).

One of my favorite things were to see not only how the rackets and balls evolved through the times but how the women's dresses evolved. I wish I took a picture of all of them. It looks like I missed the middle section of the dresses--darn it.

Part of the kids booklet was to play eye spy. They would give them a little section of something and they would have to find it. Her the booklet told them to find a license plate and Here's Alix finding it.

This was one of the first racquet and paddles.

 and here's dad explaining to the kids how they used to play.

Here is how the racquet evolved.

They would bring these lemon aid makers to play tennis for a break. They would place the lemon on top and squeeze in their glasses. They seemed very proper and fancy I would say.

I loved this section of the museum where you can see all the old tennis cans. I remember us having some when I was a little girl that my dad may have kept or bought at garage sales. I just loved looking at all of them.

Arthur Ashe was the first professional black tennis players who ever one the Singles Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open. This was time of segregation a hard time for Blacks. Here is Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr wrote a telegram to him congratulating him on making a difference in the world. It was neat to see their signatures.

Outside we checked out the stands. They set up wooden folding chairs to watch rather then sitting on bleachers....SO FANCY!

Mason and MB loved this area. In fact we looked at it for quite some time cause we couldn't get them out of it.

Here are more grass courts. In the summer you can pay to play on them. I would be fun to see how different it is to play on them. I might of sprung the cash to find out.

 Such a pretty clock tower.

They also had Clay Courts here too. 

Hope it's okay for us to call all over it. This was pretty neat too but it was all dried up.

Here's a fun shot

Inside here we watch some guys play a different kind of game. I think it was called... oh i can't remember but I did interrupted them and asked them what they are playing, because it was like squash and tennis. Jon could tell you. The court was very interesting too. I guess I should of taken a picture.

Jon informed me it's call COURT TENNIS!

 Mason just looking good like always.

That was our 2nd morning in Newport!

{SPRING BREAK in Newport, RI}

New England is so beautiful and we need to travel up there more especially sense it is so close to us. On the kids Spring Break we headed three hours away to a small town called Newport in Rhode Island. It was breath taking. We knew heading up there at this time of year when we had such a cold winter that is was going to be still brown, possible cold and not as picturesque as it can be in the summer, but the kids were off and so was Jon so we had to play a little. We don't regret it at all in fact we enjoyed the little crowds the 46.00 awesome hotel that runs $350.00-$400.00 in the summer. We all had fun so that's all that matters. We might give it another sneak peak in the summer on our way to somewhere else. Who am I kidding it was AMAZING!

 Here was the hotel we stayed. Right in the middle of everything! So fun!

The first day we were there we just wanted to check out a bit of everything so we knew where we wanted to spend our time the most. So our first day is very random shots everywhere. Sorry I'm not going to organize it a different way that will take to long : ) and I'll probably leave out some of my favorite shots. So Here we go....
The 10 mile Ocean Hike. We just looked this day but

Everywhere were historical homes.

I love the rock in the Front yard. Something different you normally don't see.

 Sign me up for a house right here. Check it out so awesome.

 Fort Adams was there too, looked so neat we almost went in. I have heard great things about it but we decided to do other things, but I will have more pictures of Fort Adams.

I love seeing all the rough rocks in the ocean. So fun and different. This is how I pictured Main looking not so much Rhode Island. I love it!

It was cold this first day but I still had to get out and adventure to this area. So Cool!

 After reporting back to Jon how fun and cool it was he had to have a turn too.

Everything around you looked so interesting. Here was a fun old rock bridge that was beautiful.

Every summer they hold tons of Rugby, Polo & Tennis Tournaments here. Jon wants to come back to watch some!

Here's Fort Adams like I told you about earlier.

We left at 6am in the morning to get there at 9am. Mason wasn't feeling good and had a fever the first day poor guy.

Here he is getting some fresh air.

A view of our hotel on the other side the peninsula.

All the kids are in their Pajamas. We eventually checked in the hotel early and swam but Emberlynn found the only few rocks around so she could start throwing them in the ocean.

How would you like a house on that rock? Crazy!

 We found many lighthouses in Newport! Here's one.

Everyone famous and rich seemed to have a second home here.

Especially this person....

I love the grid patterns of Ivy on this club house.

I love the delicate lacey banister on this house. You don't see that very often.

Love this stooped roof

Here's another mansion. That is the theme here in Newport.

Here is the the Rockambeau statue. He was a french nobleman who command his French Army to come to Sail to Newport and help Washington fight and win the American Revolutionary War.

Apparently we just did a drive by. The kids we anxious at this time to get to the Hotel and swim. I mean that is the reason why we went to Newport right!

Another fun house to see...

Love this too... it was on the side of a restaurant.

We did go in here but I'll get to that later.

We made it to the Hotel. It was so nice and fun. The kids loved the pool.

 Poor Mason still had a fever so I took him for a swim to help cool him down. He was so relaxed he fell asleep in my arms. He kept me so warm too : )

I think the kids could of stayed here all day. Addison however towards the end got out and wasn't running just stood out of the pool and totally slipped and hit her face on the concrete floor. I felt so bad and made things a bit sour but she snapped out of it real fast and wasn't going to have it ruin her day.

Awe!!! Sisters I love them.

The boys chilling too. Mason looks like he is feeling better sitting up.

Jon still doesn't have time to sit and relax and read random stuff so it was nice he was on vacation away from home that he wasn't tempted to read something medicine.

There was a reason why you didn't see Alix taking in the sun. It was because she was in here the whole time. It's hard to see a bit but through the windows is the harbor and all the boats. Just yards away! So fun.

After swimming we walked around our hotel, down the streets to view some shops and found a place to eat. Here's Mason taking it all in. We bought him this sucker. I kept wrapping it back up and giving it back to him. You'll notice it's in a lot of pictures. He loves suckers. His favorite thing! He seriously freaks if someone else has one and he doesn't. {I should work on that one with him}

 The first day was really cold. Isn't this suppose to be "SPRING" BREAK? Since I have been living out East I have loved the early warm springs. Not this time. It's now April 17 and we are just now see blossoms. Spring break was the last week in March.

Checking out the harbor...

 Outside our HOtel where their famous Warfs. We went to all of them and saw some yummy Lobster we wanted to take home.

 Kids playing around. We did a lot of window shopping. They had so many fun things to see.
We did all go home with a souvenir because we all loved it. Here's the kids playing around.

A look of some of the fun shops...

Here's us at the end of another Warf.

Main street shops....

They even had trolleys you could take everywhere even to the Mansions. You can see one below.

This restaurant had crazy good reviews so we checked it out. I needed to eat New England Claim Chowder and that was yummy!

Here's Addison scrapped up nose from slipping.

Mason's glad to be here too. That or just happy to be out of the cold. He's such a cutie.

Both of them are...

That was are first day!!! So fun and interesting. Can't wait to tell you about our second day.